Money will be used for improvements by downtown building owners

GALION — Downtown improvements?

Coming up … possible by the end of this year.

The City of Galion has received $300,000 in downtown revitalization funding through the government’s Community Development Block Grant program.

The funding will be made available to building owners within the downtown area on a dollar-for-dollar matching basis.

Projects eligible for this funding include, but are not limited to: facade improvements, roof replacement, HVAC system repair or upgrade, tuck pointing, window replacement, electric upgrades, plumbing repairs, handicap accessibility.

Currently, plans call for about $20,000 in administration fees and and estimated $40,000 for engineering costs. That will leave $240,000 available for building owners, which when matched dollar-for-dollar, means $480,000 in downtown upgrades.

There are 70 eligible buildings in the target area, and the city received interest forms from 36 building owners before proceeding with the grant application. However, all building owners in the area — which does not include the Big Four Depot — can apply for funding from this grant.

Crawford County Commissioners will receive the funds and the money will be administered by the Ohio Regional Development Corporation.

After applications from business owners are received, the City of Galion will rank the requests to prioritize the awards.

All of the money must be used by the end of 2019.

Galion will be eligible for additional, similar funding in two years.

Twenty one applications for CDBG funding was received throughout the state. Eleven applications were funded, for a total of $4.8 million.

One of the requirements of Galion’s grant application was that the city was required to have a design review program in place.